|
|
|
|
Tyrol
|
| |
|
| |
Tyrol is a region in Western Central Europe, which included the present day Austrian state of Tyrol (consisting of North Tyrol and East Tyrol), the Italian region Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol (South Tyrol) and three communes of the Veneto Italian region (Livinallongo del Col di Lana, Colle Santa Lucia and Cortina d'Ampezzo). The different parts cooperate today as the Euroregion of Tyrol-South Tyrol-Trentino.
orically the region was home to a series of autochthonous cultures occupying roughly the area of the later county of Tyrol.
Discussion
Ask a question about 'Tyrol' Start a new discussion about 'Tyrol' Answer questions from other users |
Encyclopedia
Tyrol is a region in Western Central Europe, which included the present day Austrian state of Tyrol (consisting of North Tyrol and East Tyrol), the Italian region Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol (South Tyrol) and three communes of the Veneto Italian region (Livinallongo del Col di Lana, Colle Santa Lucia and Cortina d'Ampezzo). The different parts cooperate today as the Euroregion of Tyrol-South Tyrol-Trentino.
Prehistory
Historically the region was home to a series of autochthonous cultures occupying roughly the area of the later county of Tyrol. The most prominent are the late Bronze Age Laugen-Melaun/Luco-Meluno and Iron Age Fritzens-Sanzeno cultures.
The Laugen-Melaun culture, named after two important archaeological sites near the modern-day town of Brixen (Bressanone) in Bolzano-Bozen, appears in the 14th century BC in the area of today's Bolzano-Bozen and Trento, while the northern part of Tyrol comes under the influence of the Urnfield Culture. It is characterized by a particular type of richly decorated pottery, while the metal-working is strongly influenced by adjacent cultures. The people of the Laugen-Melaun culture cremated the dead and placed their ashes in urns, and worshipped their gods in sanctuaries sometimes placed in remote areas, on mountain-tops or close to water.
Around 500 BC the Fritzens-Sanzeno-culture, also known as culture of the Rhaetics, after the goddess Rhaetia who according to roman authors was the main deity of the people inhabiting the region, succeeds both the Laugen-Melaun culture of the southern and the Urnfield culture of the northern part of Tyrol. As in the preceding culture, the richly ornamented pottery is very characteristic, while many aspects such as the metal-working, burial customs and religion are strongly influenced by its neighbours, mainly the Etruscans and Celts. Nonetheless, the Fritzens-Sanzeno-people possessed important cultural traits which clearly distinguish them from adjacent groups, such as the typical mountain-sanctuaries already in use during the time of the Laugen-Melaun culture, certain types of fibulae, bronze armor, and an own alphabet derived from the Etruscan.
Antiquity
In 15 BCE the region was conquered by the Romans and its northern and eastern part were incorporated into the Roman Empire as the provinces of Raetia and Noricum respectively, while the part south of and including the area around the modern day cities of Merano and Bolzano became part of Italia's Regio X. As in the rest of Europe, the Roman era left deep marks in the culture and in the language (see: Rhaeto-Romance languages).
According to a more recent and controversial theory, the Rhaeto-Romance languages are autochthonous and date back to before the Roman conquest (see: Paleolithic Continuity Theory).
After the conquest of Italy by the Goths Tyrol became part of the Ostrogothic Kingdom from the 5th to the 6th century. After the fall of the Ostrogothic Kingdom in 553 the Germanic tribe of the Langobards invaded Italy and founded the Langobard Kingdom of Italy, which no longer included all of Tyrol, but only its southern part. The northern part of Tyrol came under the influence of the Bavarii, while the east probably was part of Alamannia. Thus, Tyrol was divided among three spheres of influence which met approximately in the area of today's Bolzano. During the 6th century Bavaria and Alamannia became stem duchies of the Frankish Kingdom. In 774 Charlemagne conquered the Langobard Kingdom of Italy and had himself crowned King of the Langobards. As a consequence Tyrol came to have great importance as a bridgehead to Italy, a fact which was again confirmed during the Italian Campaign of Otto I. In the years 1007 and 1027 the Emperors of the Holy Roman Empire granted the counties of Trento, Bolzano and Vinschgau to the Bishopric of Trento, in 1027 the county of Norital was granted to the Bishopric of Brixen, followed 1091 by the county of Pustertal. Since the Bishops were nominated directly by the Emperor and their office was not hereditary, putting the area under their control was intended to secure it to the Emperors.
The County
Over the centuries, the Counts residing in Castle Tyrol, near Merano, extended their territory over much of the region and came to surpass the power of the bishops, who were nominally their feudal lords. Later counts came to hold much of their territory directly from the Holy Roman Emperor. The Meinhardinger family, originating in Gorizia, held not only Tyrol and Gorizia, but for a time also the Duchy of Carinthia.
Napoleonic Wars
Following defeat by Napoleon in 1805, Austria was forced to cede Tyrol to the Kingdom of Bavaria in the Peace of Pressburg. Tyrol as a part of Bavaria became a member of the Confederation of the Rhine in 1806. In 1809 there was an unsuccessful rebellion led by Andreas Hofer. Tyrol remained under Bavaria and the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy until it was returned to Austria following the decisions at the Congress of Vienna in 1814. Integrated into the Austrian Empire, from 1867 onwards it was a Kronland (Crown Land) of Cisleithania, the western half of Austria-Hungary.
Partition of Tyrol
The Treaty of Saint-Germain of 1919 ruled that, according to the London Pact, the southern part of Tyrol had to be ceded to Italy. Italy's border was pushed northward to the strategically important Alpine water divide, now including the south of Tyrol with its large German-speaking majority. The northern part of Tyrol was retained by the First Austrian Republic.
See also
- Trentino-Alto Adige/South Tyrol
- State of Tyrol
External links
|
| |
|
|
